Dior’s Cuir Cannage Beguiles. The Most Artful of Inveiglers

by Katie on April 20, 2014

I’m being particularly kind to you this Easter Weekend, dear readers-of-the-over-stuffed-faces-with-chocolate. I thought it about time that I told you of the delectably indulgent and just teetering on the right side of sin release from Dior’s Privee Collection: Cuir Cannage.

Cuir Cannage. Hmm. Just saying the name has me in a froth. It already has me hooked. Like catnip for particularly choosy and cantankerous fragrance writers (*ahem*) that makes them roll over and purr in a daze. Putty in its hands. And it’s only April. My oh my, have perfume houses got their work cut out the rest of the year to match and exceed this addictive baby. Yes, IT IS THAT GOOD!

Cuir Cannage comes on like the proverbial smooth tongued lothario in perfume format. All the right moves at all the right times in all the right places. Timing, refinement, an air of je ne sais quoi and a pouring of charisma – Welcome to the Noble Art of Cuir Cannage.

Seduction is, in its highest form, far more than a one-note, wham-bang-thank-you-ma’am move. No siree. A great seduction is like a ritual with a complex set of rules. It can neither be too aggressive, or the element of beguiling is lost in the relentless advances nor should it be too refined or too politely convivial because then the interplay between the intended victim and the seducer is lost.

Cuir Cannage from Dior’s La Collection Privee is described as a leather fragrance with floral notes that bring a particular intensity. But to describe a fragrance (no matter if this is the haloed Francois Demachy’s description) in words only, is not worthy of the combined force of the sum of the parts. Cuir Cannage is a lesson of skill and balance, of teetering on the pinhead of too much and simultaneously, never enough. Of over sweet but not-so-cloying ylang ylang and orange blossom which clashes and comfort wraps the heavy woodiness of Birch and Cade essences, that you simply need more, MORE I TELL YOU! while you spend your nose pressed against your wrist or scarf thinking, ‘I smell so good, it’s unbelievable’.

Cuir Cannage certainly brings out the potential for some of the Seven Deadly Sins to rear their noxious little heads. Like this is a bad thing? Envy – What is s/he wearing? Pride – Yes, it is me wearing this splendour. Don’t I smell divine? Gluttony – I think I just need to spray a little more…’ and Lust – Whoh betide the man or woman in the path of this latter day Casanova or Catherine the Great.

It’s been some time since we had a class act of difference like this. Cuir Cannage recreates the world of tantalising scents where fruity rose-and-violet notes mix with a more powerful heady mix; where a fine leather bag meets the warmth of tobacco and the sweetness of sugar. Cuir, inspired by Russian leather known for its warmth and Cannage, the artwork detail on the Napoleon III chairs emblematic of the Dior House and signifying elegance, this perfume hits the right spots in terms of uniqueness, originality, refinement and class. Cuir Cannage is the most adept artful inveigler of the perfume world this year.